Chapter 5: Fringe Benefits

You may have noticed something odd going on in the Tip 2 Tip episodes so far. Sometimes the voices you hear seem pretty distant. Crackled. Like they've been dragged through space and satellites and Third World telephone wires and handfuls of time zones. Well, that's because they have...

In catching up with all of the surfers to get the ins and outs of their trips, the reality is that we’re either calling the Quest 1 sat-phone and catching them before they disembark, or we’re calling some random phone in another corner of the world that's just as remote and idyllic.

Like… Tahiti.

This is where we found all three of this week’s passengers. As players on the WCT circuit, Kekoa Bacalso, Ben Dunn and Matt Wilkinson were waiting out the agonizing flat spell going on at the End of the Road. Teahupo’o hadn’t run in weeks and the forecast wasn’t looking good. As bad as it was for them, it was kind of brilliant for us.

You see, nostalgia for the Tip 2 Tip mission was at alarming levels and all three of the boys told nearly identical stories: tales rich with Bintangs, good times and empty waves in far flung corners of Indo that not even they thought existed - you know, all the things that make chasing contest points around the world worth the inherent struggle. It's the little things. The fringe benefits.

Passengers onboard

episode 5.3 - right out of nowhere

Bintang consumption was starting to sky-rocket and mornings were breaking slow and foggy. Wilko was frothing for some left-hand ramps, and finally Kekoa and Dunny started listening to his pleas. They would move on from the more crowded Mentawaii locales. And then they saw it growling around the bend. Wilko would have to grab rail for just one more day. Quest 1 wasn’t going anywhere.

The boys surfed this right-hander for two days straight... we lost count of how many times Kekoa got personal with the foam ball. Photo: Shorty

Dunny, redeeming a few style points. Photo: Ted Grambeau

Kekoa got all emotional towards the end of the 2-day barrel spree. Photo: Ted Grambeau

Calling it a day. Dunny. Photo: Shorty

"I love you again," said Kekoa when it was all over. One last look before she went back to sleep. Photo: Shorty

Top 5: Facebook Updates from Wilko (From Around the Globe)

5 "i fell asleep on tv again. f--kit" -From JBay

4 "drinking jack and swapping boards for pearls seems fun at the time but its not worth it." -From Tahiti

3 "Can someone please come and hang out with me. We can have coffee." -From home

2 "im just a chubby ninja able to move between skinny people. tiptoeing elephant. no one can see me and then i attack with ice cream and jelly..." -From the US Open

1 "im one happy little girl" -From Tahiti

episode 5.2 - rights vs. lefts

There’s nothing more painful than being confined to a boat and at the mercy of “majority rules” in the land of perfect lefts and rights. But this was the position young Wilko found himself in with natural-footers - and hence, right junkies - Kekoa Bacalso and Ben Dunn. Things got worse for Wilko when just as the crew had given up hope of scoring any perfect surf alone, they stumbled upon a beautiful beast (you’ll see that on Friday). He finally got his time in juicy lefts though. And he shined. So you decide who flairs the most in this episode: the rights or lefts?

-Kekoa Bacalso, describing how he felt while watching Wilko finally have his way with proper left-hand ramps. See the boys battle between left and right in episode 5.2 - rights vs. lefts.

Behind the Scenes: Take 1

We've got more point-and-shoot gold to share - this week you can thank Wilko:

episode 5.1 - character

Team boat trips can be a gamble. What if the boys give up an important contest only to spend two weeks motoring around unseasonably flat seas? Will they snap? What if they’ve never traveled together before? The potential for egginess is certainly there, but, then again, this is a part of the job. These guys get paid to travel the world and meet new people everyday. It’s what they’re good at. And you couldn’t ask for a better contrast than Bam Bam Bacalso, Dunny and Wilko. True to form, they pulled it off in entertaining fashion.

Matt Wilkinson is an interesting human... just check out his Facebook page. And in the water, he can get even more weird, which is why we knew we had to get him on one of the Tip 2 Tip missions. We succeeded... and so did he. Photo: Shorty

I'm on a BOAT! Photo: Shorty

Dunny's a quiet, calculated kid. Get him in good waves though, and he comes across loud and clear. Photo: Ted Grambeau

There's a good chance that Kekoa's on the other side of the camera saying: "Look alive, Dunny! Look alive!" Photo: Shorty

We learned a few things about Kekoa on this trip... mostly that he gets really pumped about jumping off boats. This is Bam Bam, nailing the shot. Photo: Ted Grambeau

Kekoa surfs pretty good, too. Photo: Ted Grambeau

This is an early photo from the pirate party that Wilko threw together for photographer Jon Frank there on the left. They celebrated extra-heavily because, earlier in the afternoon, Jon paddled out at one of Indo's more life-threatening lefts and got the wave of the day... that's what the filthy grin's for. Photo: Ted Grambeau

Is Dunny even pointing that thing in the right direction? Photo: Shorty

Tip 2 Tip is a 6-month quest on the Infinite Search, stretching from one end of the Indonesia Archipelago to the other. Stay tuned for daily updates and 3 fresh video edits a week. See more here

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entry #1 by Forrest Elmer

04/16/2011 01:40

No, that couldn't have been Wilko's first backside berrel? was it?

entry #2 by Rudi

02/15/2011 00:33

Hello, maybe someone can tell me one which one of these “tip2tip” trips Owen Wright was on? Thanks

entry #3 by JOE

01/13/2011 13:46

The One AM Radio - Credible Threats is the second song

entry #4 by Willow P

10/06/2010 10:29

Hey!!
Whats the second song in right vrs left??

entry #5 by Nigel Griswold

09/14/2010 14:53

Point of Interest: I have a photo I took recently that is of a cold fall squal over the greatest of the great lakes (lake superior) where the waves are big and messy and the clouds are doing this insane rip curl looking thing. Literally, the clouds are perfectly doing the classic Rip Curl logo. I've never scene anything like it. It's rad. Let me know if the company may be interested in checking out the original.

Thanks!

Best,
Nigel

#(231)709-3461

entry #6 by Captain

09/13/2010 22:44

What Dave said.

entry #7 by Dave

09/13/2010 17:23

Character?
WTF
They get paid to go on a luxury boat and surf in Indo and this breeds character !
What a bunch of corporate bs that is the definition of an awesome holiday soft
The rest of us have to grind away pay the bills and save for 2 weeks on a converted Indo fishing boat thats breeds f..n character get real